And When I Have to Crawl
by thespeedforce4
Summary: In a low voice, barely a whisper, Nightwing spoke, "We'll laugh about this someday." (One-Shot, maybe a two-shot later)


And when I have to crawl  
Will you crawl too?  
I stumble and I fall,  
Carry me through

* * *

The room was too bright. A florescent light flickered from above. The walls, ceiling and tile-floor were white. It hurt the young girl's eyes. The only other colors were the green of her torn costume and the crimson red that stained the floor around her.

She had been slipping in and out of consciousness for the past three hours. Or, maybe it had been four hours. She couldn't be sure. She had lost her sense of time a long time ago.

The air was thick with the metallic smell of blood. _Her_ blood. She had thrown up a couple times since this all started, but she refused to cry. Artemis Lian Crock did not, under _any_ circumstance, cry.

She would bend, but she would not break.

She was unaware of what time it was, how long she had been "MIA", or where she was. The only thing Artemis could fully comprehend was the amount indescribable pain she was in.

The archer scanned the area looking for a potential escape, but every time she moved her head to survey the room, her ears rang.

A door swung open and Artemis breathed out a curse.

* * *

"What do you mean they've got her?"

"Wally, I-"

"How could you let this happen?" Wally snarled.

"I didn't mean for this-"

"Of course you didn't '_mean for this to happen_'!" Wally interrupted Nightwing, "None of us ever _mean_ for these things to happen! But they _do_. It's all a part of the job! That's why Artemis and I left." Wally sighed. Lowering his voice he continued. "I'm worried about her, Dick… if you don't get her back… If she's not okay.. I don't know what I'll do." He flopped down into a chair and buried his face in his hands. "I know... I know you care about her, Dick. Prove it to me. To her. Find her."

Nightwing put a hand on his friend's shoulder, "I'll find her, Wally. I.. I promise."

"Don't make promises you can't keep."

* * *

"What?" Poison Ivy sneered, "I can't hear you sweetie." She entered with Harley Quinn trailing behind her like a puppy dog. She kneeled done beside her, spreading her legs apart and resting and elbow on each knee.

Artemis just glared at her. She knew the woman was saying something, but the words just got all jumbled up in her head. The room began to spin violently. The archer spat at Poison Ivy. However, it didn't hit its target; it was thick with blood and ended up barely leaving Artemis' mouth, trailing down her cheek.

"Disgusting," Harley Quinn cringed. "I love it."

Poison Ivy grabbed a fist full of Artemis' hair and slammed her face into the slick floor. Once. Twice. Three times before untangled her hand from the young hero's mane of gold hair and stood up, wiping her hands on an old rag.

"Pathetic. All of you _heroes_," she growled the last word. "Always saving people. You can barely save _yourself_."

"Too bad no one's here to help you," Harley sang. She bent down to touch her toes, bringing her head eye-level with Artemis'. The heroine curled herself away from the deranged Queen of Crime. There was no point fighting anymore. Artemis may not have been 'all there' mentally, but she was coherent enough to know when she was defeated. That she had lost.

Harley laughed at this. "Look at her!" She fell onto her back, curling her legs in and grabbing her sides, "I can't! This is hilarious!"

Poison Ivy's patience was thinning, but she held herself together. "Come on, sweet heart," she stood towering above Artemis. "This could all end. Just tell us what we need to know."

For a moment, a split second of weakness, Artemis considered this. Poison Ivy was offering her a way out. She was going to kill her either way, of this the hero was sure, but maybe if she cooperated, it would be quicker.

A swift kick into her gut stopped her train of thought abruptly. Artemis' breath hitched. Poison Ivy kicked her, again and again and again. A sickening crack came from the archer's ribs and Artemis yelled out in pain, sending blood onto the villainess' boots. She pulled herself into a ball, trying to shelter her cracked ribs.

Those blissful seconds she was given while Poison Ivy cleaned her shoes were short lived as she was pulled up by the remains of her ponytail. Artemis weakly grabbed at the base of her hair in attempt to lessen the pull at her head.

Her feeble attempts to kick away from her oppressor were ignored. Her toes barely scraped the ground. The scientist leaned in. Artemis felt her hot breath on her face and instinctively flinched, turning her face away. "Tell me, _little girl_. Make it easier on yourself, on all of us."

"Over," she swallowed dryly, "over my dead body," she managed to choke out weakly.

A wicked grin spread across the villainesses' ruby red lips. Artemis' eyes widened and Harley giggled in the background. "That can be arranged."

Artemis had too much pride to admit it, but she was terrified. The menacing woman before her started to blur. Darkness began to seep its way into her line of vision.

It was going to all be over soon.

Artemis grinned. She had done it.

Once her team found her, _if_ her team found her, they'd know that she hadn't failed.

She had kept her mouth shut that was all that mattered. Their secrets were still secrets and her team was safe, that was all that mattered.

Suddenly, Artemis was dropped, her head smashed into the floor and she lay on her side. Warm blood slowly pooled its way from the crack in Artemis' head.

She shut her eyes, but not before seeing Harley lift her signature hammer and aim it at Artemis' knees. She tried to curl her legs in, but to no avail. The blonde laughed hysterically as she mercilessly slammed her hammer down on archer's knee.

The last thing Artemis could remember was a tingling on either side of her face, a blue bird and someone speaking. She squeezed her eyes shut in concentration and strained her ears, trying to understand the voice that seemed vaguely familiar. She managed a smile when she finally recognized the voice.

In a low voice, barely a whisper, Nightwing spoke, "We'll laugh about this someday."

* * *

**Hmmm, debating whether or not to make this a two-shot...**

**Spitfire and Traught if you squint.**

**Like it, Love it, Hate it?  
****Review :)**

**-Nat**

**This was a little (really really **_**really**_**) rushed, but I just got home from a 36 hours car ride. Deal with it.**


End file.
